Alcohol abuse in children declined slightly

Alcohol abuse in children declined slightly according to statistical data analysis

12/15/2011

According to the Federal Statistical Office in Wiesbaden, campaigns against alcohol consumption in childhood and adolescence seem to be making first small achievements. According to the survey, fewer children had to be hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. However, the issue should not be downplayed, educators and doctors warn.

Among young people, unconscious drunkenness is a very dangerous to health „fad“. Therefore, experts warned in the past of the dangers of the so-called „coma drunkenness“. Several campaigns have been launched by health authorities in schools to stop the trend. The first minimal successes are now taken by the Federal Statistical Office. Overall, there is still no trend reversal, although the number of alcohol-indicated hospital admissions for children and adolescents has fallen. Nevertheless, the number of cases is still high.

Less hospital stays of children
According to the authorities, children aged 10 to 15 years had to be less inpatient treated because of alcohol habit. In children in this age group it can be observed that especially girls were affected. In the case of young people, especially young men were the main group of patients.

The figures in the overview: In children, the number per 100,000 inhabitants compared to the same period of 2009 measured on the basis of hospital stays has fallen by 5.5 percent (102.8 per 100,000 inhabitants). In the case of adolescents between 15 and 20 years of age, however, there was an increase of 2.9 percent. Based on 100,000 inhabitants, 513 hospital admissions were counted. In total, around 26,000 children, adolescents and young adults between the ages of 10 and 20 were treated in a hospital due to acute alcohol poisoning in 2010. In 2009 there were about 400 cases more, about 26,400.

Adults more often in clinics
An increase in alcohol poisoning can be observed in over-20s. Adults are excessively frequently consumed as a result of alcohol intoxication. „Mental and behavioral disorders due to alcohol consumption were the second leading cause of emergency hospitalization.“ These figures include acute alcohol abuse. Diagnostic statistics show that about 333,000 patients were hospitalized for alcohol intoxication last year. For comparison, in 2010, approximately 18.5 million people were admitted to a full-time hospital. The most common cause was heart failure (heart failure). In third place also ranks a heart disease, the angina pectoris. Based on 100,000 inhabitants, the statistics show a total of 20,684 treated cases. Thus, about 0.8 percent more people were treated in a hospital.

Consumption can end fatally
Many young people do not know that alcohol poisoning can also be fatal. In the social context, such poisonings are often downplayed. At what dose a life-threatening situation can occur depends heavily on the physical nature of the consumer. Thus, even in some patients, death can already occur after 2.5 to 3 per thousand, while other people also survive 6 per thousand. In emergency medicine, everything is done first to stabilize and maintain vital signs. To monitor the breathing and the circulation, those affected are often placed on an intensive care unit. Since a blood alcohol concentration above 2 per thousand is a shock hazard, glucose solutions are administered by infusion. The body fights against the poisoning with nausea and vomiting. Since most patients are hardly conscious, the vomit is aspirated in the intensive care unit to prevent suffocation.

The problem should not be downplayed
„Parents should seek an open conversation with their children“, advises Gritli Bertram, social pedagogue from Hanover. In the conversation, the dangers should be kept clear. „A trivialization leads to increased drinking readiness“, warns the educator. „Even if children are defensive at the moment of the conversation, the open but clear words will still resonate in the situations“. (Sb)

Picture: Gerd Altmann